The sharper protrusions were no longer a concern.
No, if anything, he felt a deep affection, enough that he almost wanted to offer himself as a meal to ease the girl’s hunger.
Of course, it was just a thought.
“Phew, haa…”
As Hans brushed off the corpse fragments and took deep, ragged breaths, Alje plopped down beside him.
She was in just as much of a mess as he was.
At least Hans still had clothes on, but Alje had been naked from the start.
It seemed the clothes he had lent her had been lost somewhere while they were swimming through the corpses.
But even with her bare body fully exposed, it was in no state to evoke any desire.
Every inch of her skin was covered in white dust, and the streaks of blood running down her body looked like primitive tribal tattoos.
And yet, despite her disheveled state, the carefree smile on her face was pleasant to see.
“It’s over now, right, mister?”
“Probably. Do you sense anything else around?”
“Nope.”
Hearing that, Hans let himself go limp and collapsed onto his back.
“Then it’s over.”
“Waaah…”
Her exclamation was weak.
Well, it made sense—she had every right to be exhausted.
Alje flopped down on top of Hans, pressing against him.
Listening quietly to the rise and fall of her breath, he suddenly muttered.
“…Now I get why they told me to be careful.”
“Hm?”
“Nothing. It’s just… my mom used to say that. Oh, and the other teachers too.”
To beware of witches.
“Well, they are dangerous.”
Of course, not every witch could wield magic as powerful as the one they had just fought—only a grand witch could manage such destruction with just a piece of their own body.
But in the end, human bodies were fragile; even a small stone could be enough to kill.
“Yeah. They said never to meet one without an escort knight. Since we can’t fight for ourselves.”
“You did pretty well just now, though.”
Unlike her usual dazed demeanor, she had made faster decisions than Hans, leading them to safety and playing a crucial role in taking down the witch.
Unlike last time, there had been no chance to attack the witch’s eye directly.
If not for Alje’s quick thinking, he might have actually died this time.
As he sincerely praised her, the girl’s cheeks flushed a rosy pink.
“Eugh… Maybe it’s just because I had an escort knight…”
“What? You had one?”
Unlike witches, who could upend the world with a flick of their fingers, saints lacked inherent combat abilities and usually had personal guards.
The [Guardian Knights], bound to the saints by a special connection, could withstand overwhelming miracles that ordinary humans could not, making them their strongest sword and shield.
“I meant you, mister! I was just a trainee to begin with…”
“Oh, so you were joking.”
Naturally, Guardian Knights were noble figures beyond comparison to a mere labyrinth hunter like him.
But still, it wasn’t unpleasant to be spoken of in such a way.
“Well, well. I suppose I could fill in for the role, at least for a while.”
“Really?”
Setting aside whether a monster like her could even be officially ordained as a saint—or if she even needed a Guardian Knight with her incredible physical abilities—Even if it was just an empty promise, if it could make her smile, that was enough.
“Yeah, that is… if we can actually get out of here.”
Taking down the witch’s eye had been a good start, but there were still a mountain of problems left to deal with.
And the closest problem was right here.
Perhaps having survived a near-death experience had made Hans reckless, but he lightly flicked one of the protrusions on Alje’s head as she rested her cheek against his chest.
“Eek?! W-What was that for?”
“Oh, it was just right there, so…”
Alje flinched in surprise, her cheeks turning a different shade as she snapped at him.
“Don’t just touch me like that! That spot is sensitive. I almost let something out.”
“…Uh… sorry.”
It was a statement that could have sounded rather suggestive, but when he considered what she might have almost let out, chills ran down his spine.
Hans quickly withdrew his hand and got to his feet.
Right—this wasn’t the time to be idling around.
If anything, the real crisis might not have even begun yet.
“We don’t have time to sit around. Let’s find a way out.”
“But I’m tired… yawn…”
Alje let out a cute yawn, her protrusions now about a palm’s length long and sharp.
Honestly, Hans wanted nothing more than to rest as well.
Even if the drained corpses were light as feathers, digging through a mountain of them to escape had been no easy feat.
And he hadn’t come out unscathed from the searing heat of the fire, either.
Alje had healed him afterward, but… wait, was that why she seemed even hungrier now?
“…Thinking about it, just wandering around probably won’t be enough to find an exit.”
It was obvious this place had been artificially created.
The fact that everything was visible despite the lack of any light source, or that the flames had been unnaturally suppressed to prevent excessive fires—none of it was natural.
The corpses covering the ground, drained of all life and reduced to husks, only added to the eerie atmosphere.
And with pieces of the living grand witch’s body scattered around, the situation became even clearer.
If someone had created this place with a specific purpose, then an exit had to exist somewhere.
But it would either be placed somewhere inaccessible or hidden where no one would ever think to look.
“Oh, that reminds me.”
“Hm?”
“I think I saw something strange earlier. It was only for a moment, so I’m not sure…”
“Where did you see it?”
As Hans shared his thoughts, Alje suddenly clapped her hands, as if something had clicked in her mind.…Despite her usual airheaded demeanor, she was surprisingly sharp.
She had been the same way when they fought the witch earlier.
“Down there.”
But could he really trust this?
“…How far down?”
“I dunno. But we’d have to go way down.”
Alje pointed to the bottom of the corpse mound.
Hans now knew from experience that these corpses were soft and light, meaning he could dig through them with his strength.
But he also knew that, no matter how light they seemed, when they piled up, they became an unbearable weight that could crush him under their suffocating pressure.
Yet at the same time, he felt a strange certainty.
A place inaccessible to anyone.
A location no one would ever think to search.
If the exit wasn’t down there… then where else could it possibly be?
“….”
Maybe it was just a delusion.
Maybe he was clinging to this idea simply because he didn’t want to face the unsettling reality of Alje’s true form.
But even as those thoughts crossed his mind, he found himself speaking before he could stop.
“…Should we go down and check?”
If they didn’t attempt this near-suicidal plan, their only other fate would be to wander this endless mound until they were devoured by some starving beast.
Of course, if they were lucky, they might come across another monster at just the right moment to serve as a meal, or perhaps stumble upon the exit in this vast space purely by chance.
But realistically, the chances of that happening were about as high as Hans climbing a cliff alone and wiping out an entire pack of three-eyed hounds.
“…Sigh.”
Will they cling to an uncertain hope and wander the mound aimlessly?
Or will they at least struggle to change their situation through their own choices?
Hans pondered his options, his eyes falling on the murky-colored protrusions that had now grown more than a hand’s length.
“Hm.”
No matter how wretched and insignificant a life may be, at the very least, the right to decide how it ends belongs to oneself.
“…Are we really doing this?”
“Just in case.”
Alje looked hesitant even as she spoke, but Hans had already made up his mind.
They were going down.
He would dig to the very bottom of this corpse mound and see what lay beneath.
At the very least, it seemed like a far more productive endeavor than testing the limits of Alje’s patience.
“And besides, it’s not like we have any other options. Do you really think we’ll find an exit just by wandering around aimlessly?”
“…That’s true.”
Eventually, Alje nodded.
That was a relief—Hans would need her help for this.
“Well then.”
“Hm?”
Hans took Alje’s hand.
“I’m counting on you.”
No matter how strong Hans was, how deep could a mere human dig with his bare hands?
He didn’t have a single proper tool to aid him.
This was the time to rely on the overwhelming strength and physical prowess of a monster.
“…You want me to do the digging?”
“Yep.”
“What about you?”
“Mm… I’ll do my best to keep up?”
Alje shot Hans a sharp glare but eventually sighed in resignation.
“Ugh… What kind of guardian knight makes a saint do the hard work?”
Of course, neither of them was truly what they seemed.
One was a hunter who had forgotten his duty, and the other was a monster who had lost her nature.
But neither of them felt the need to voice that uncomfortable truth.
Alje gripped Hans’ wrist, and though the pressure felt strong enough to bruise him, he remained silent.
Then, once again, the two plunged into the pale, lifeless sea of death.